RESEARCH ARTICLE Influence of Low-Level Prenatal Exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs on Empathizing, Systemizing and Autistic Traits: Results from the Duisburg Birth Cohort Study

Background Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs) are assumed to act as endocrine disruptor chemicals. Prenatal exposure to these pollutants might influence fetal steroid hormone levels, which are thought to be relat-ed to sex-typical development and autistic traits. Objectives We examined associations of prenatal levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs with autism traits and sex-typical behaviour in childhood. Methods Wemeasured levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in maternal blood samples during pregnancy using gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Sex-typical behaviour was assessed at 9 years of age (n = 96) and autistic traits at 10 years of age using the Social Re-sponsiveness Scale (SRS; n = 100). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to esti-mate the associations between prenatal exposure and outcome variables